Shoe construction normally includes the use of a counter stiffener to hold the back of the shoe up. The counter also functions to help hold the shoe on the foot, lend support to the wearer's heel and foot, and give the shoe an attractive shape. In the last twenty years, it has become common practice in the shoe manufacturing process to form the counter area or back part of the shoe with specially designed thermoforming machinery using a thermoplastic counter stiffener. This molding process is known as lasting.
Prior to lasting, these counter stiffeners are either inserted in a pocket between the lining and the upper of the shoe or they incorporate a surface which is also the lining of the shoe, in which case the counter stiffener with the lining surface is stitched into the quarter area of the shoe which holds it in place before molding and/or lasting.
The surface applied to the counter stiffener varies with the particular industry. In the canvas footwear industry, typically 52"-220 drills or a coated osnaburg is used. In the conventional manufacturing footwear industry, nylon flock surfaces are used with low quality footwear and nonwoven fabrics such as needle-punched polyester saturated with nitrile rubber are used with high quality footwear.
These conventional counter stiffeners employing different types of fabrics or simulated surfaces are often not easy to work, are relatively expensive, do not wear exceptionally well, and cannot be easily modified to provide a variety of distinct surfaces and colors. Attempts to laminate cross-linked thermoplastic lining surfaces to the counter stiffeners have not met with success because with a peroxide cross-linking system or an irradiation system the color varies considerably during and after the cross-linking step.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a surface for counter stiffeners and a method for providing surfaces for counter stiffeners wherein high wear factors are possible, ease of cutting and shaping is achieved during forming and molding and, more importantly, where a variety of stable colors and effects may be imparted to the surfaces.